President roots for wind and solar energy in Maharashtra

President Pratibha Patil on Saturday said that Maharashtra should become an ideal state to fulfil all the dreams of its people.

The president was addressing the golden jubilee celebration programme at New Delhi which was held to mark the completion of the golden jubilee year of formation of the state of Maharashtra.

The programme was organised by Maharashtra Rajya Suvarna Jayanti Celebrations Committee at Mavalankar Auditorium in New Delhi. Eminent personalities including Sachin Tendulkar, Nana Patekar, scientist Raghunath Mashelkar, composer and lyricist Yashwant Deo, industrialist Atul Kirloskar, Air Chief Marshal Anil Tipnis and Air Chief Marshal P V Naik were felicitated as ‘The Jewels of Maharashtra’ with a memento and shawl. The golden jubilee souvenir was released by the chief patron Sharad Pawar.

President Pratibha Patil said that Maharashtra was known for its peace-loving and liberal people who demonstrated courage during the terror attacks. She further added that the terrorists were the enemies of humanity and should be destroyed for the universal well-being. Maharashtra had contributed at National level in fields right from literature, cinema, arts, folk-arts, music or sports.

The president highlighted the progress made by the state in last 50 years and underlined the need for power generation and harnessing non-conventional energy sources like wind and solar energy.

There is an urgent need for judicious distribution of available water for various crops and providing supplementary income sources to the farming community, she insisted. She also expressed the need to reverse the trend of migration to cities from villages. A need for changes in education system to provide vocational training to create skilled manpower also would help .